A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
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February 15, 7989


 Contents                                                                           THE
                                                     February 15,7 989         STANDARD
Meditation  - Prof. Robert D. Decker
    HANNAH                                                                        B-R                                            I
                                                                       219

 Editorial  - Prof. David/.  Engelsma                                          ISSN 0362-4692
   THE DEMISE OF THE RES                                               221     Semi-monthly, except monthly during June,  July,
                                                                              and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
                                                                               lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
Letters  -                                                                    at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
   RUTHERFORD AND RESISTANCE                                           224    EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
                                                                              Editor-in-chief: Prof. David  J. Engelsma
                                                                              Managing Editor: Prof. Robert D. Decker
All Around Us  -  Rev.  Cise  j.  VanBaren                                     Editors' Assistant: Mr. Don Doezema
   THE COST OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION                                     225    DEPARTMENT EDITORS
   THE GKN AND THE REC                                                        Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev.
                                                                       226    Arie  denHartog,  Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry
   "THE PRESBYTERIAN"                                                  226    Critters, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman
                                                                              Hanko, Rev. Ronald Hanko, Rev. John  Heys,  Rev.
                                                                              Jason Kortering, Rev. George Lubbers, Rev. lames
Guest Article  - Rev. Robert.C. Harbach                                       Slopsema,  Rev. Charles Terpstra, Rev. Gise
   CHRIST THE SHEEPFOLD DOOR                                           227    VanBaren,  Mr. Benjamin Wigger.
                                                                              EDITORIAL OFFICE
                                                                              The Standard Bearer
The Day of Shadows  -  Rev.  John A. Heys                                     4949  lvanrest
   IDOLATRY AND HERESY INTRODUCED                                      229    Crandville,  Michigan 49418
                                                                              CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
                                                                              Mr. Ben Wigger
Walking in the Light  - Prof. Herman C. Hanko                                 6597  - 40th Ave.
   HOMOSEXUALITY (4)                                                   232    Hudsonville,  Michigan 49426
                                                                              EDITORIAL POLICY
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Decency and Order  - Rev. Ronald L. Cammenga                                  of his own articles. Contributions of general in-
   MINISTERIAL RESIGNATION                                             235    terest from our readers and questions for the
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Contribution  - Prof. Herman C. Hanko                                         and must be neatly written or typewritten, and
   RETIREMENT OF AN ORGANIST                                           237    must be  signed.   Coov  deadlines are the first and
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BOOK REVIEW                                                            238    editorial office.
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218  I The Standard Bearer


' Meditation
  Prof. Robert Decker


     The church has three great             We have a shortage of students         Hannah had no children and
  needs: children, "Hannahs," and         in our seminary, which means           was deeply troubled by this. The
  prayers.                                we will have a shortage of             Scripture informs us that Hannah
     The church needs children            ministers in the churches. This is     was loved by Elkanah. When it
  who are dedicated to the Lords          a very sad situation. Indeed, God      became apparent that she could
  service and who will grow up to         is blessing us with a great deal of    not bear children, Elkanah took
  be preachers. The church needs          work in the cause of His King-         matters into his own hands and
  children because God has estab-         dom, and He has given us the           married Peninnah. Peninnah bore
  lished His covenant with us and         heritage of the truth of His Word.     him sons and daughters, but that
  our children. Gods promise is to        And we have only a very few            did not satisfy Hannah. Peninnah
  us and our children and to all          students studying for the              not only had sons and daughters,
  that are afar off, even as many as      ministry. Why this is I do not         but she provoked Hannah by
  the Lord our God shall call. God        know. What I do know is that           mocking her for her barrenness.
  is the covenant God Who saves           God will give us students in our       And Hannah, though deeply
  His elect in Christ in the lines of     seminary and eventually                loved by Elkanah, remained
  their generations. The church           ministers in the churches only by      troubled. When they went to
  needs children because the future       means of the fervent prayers of        worship at the tabernacle in
  of Gods covenant and cause are          godly "Hannahs"!                       Shiloh she wept sore and did not
  at stake!                                 The incident of our text took        eat.
    Because the church needs              place at the end of the period of        Why was she so troubled?
 children it needs "Hannahs" -            the judges. This was a bad time        From a natural point of view we
  God-fearing, pious mothers! God         in the history of Israel. In those     can understand. God-fearing
  has given women a large and in-         days there was no king in Israel       women such as Hannah want
  dispensable place in His church.        and every man did that which           children. They too weep, for that
  That place is to bear and bring         was right in his own eyes. In          is a very difficult fact for them to
  up the children of Gods cove-           these times Elkanah lived. He          accept. And certainly this is part
  nant. Without godly mothers God         was a Levite who lived in              of the reason for Hannah's grief.
  does not maintain and extend His        Ephraim, according to I                But there is more to her sorrow.
  covenant of friendship in Christ        Chronicles 6. Elkanah had two          We must remember that this is
  Jesus!                                  wives Hannah and Peninnah. The         the Old Testament era. Canaan
    God uses means to maintain            latter bore him children and           was God's country, a picture of
  His covenant. The means are             mocked Hannah who was the              heaven. Here God was pleased to
  especially the prayers of God-          favorite of Elkanah. Hannah and        live in covenant friendship with
  fearing mothers.                        Elkanah represented the faithful       His people. Should a man die
                                          remnant of apostate Israel, as is      without a son his inheritance was
                                          evident in the fact that they wor-     given to another and his name
                                          shiped annually at the tabernacle      and pI.ace in Canaan perished. To
                                          in Shiloh, and from the concern        be barren, therefore, was con-
                            -.- -         of Hannah, her prayer for a man        sidered a terrible reproach and a
  Prof. Decker is profesior of Pract&l    child and her vow, and from            sign of Gods disfavor. Hannah,
  Theology in the Protestant Reformed     God's answer to her prayer.            God-fearing woman that she was,
  Seminary.

                                                                                                 The  standard Bearer  I219


knew all of this, and this too            Truly this was a remarkable         delivered His people from their
troubled her deeply. But even          prayer of faith for a son who          enemies. Through the son of
this is not the deepest reason for     would be a picture of true,            David, our Lord Jesus Christ, God
her grief. Her concern was not to      spiritual Israel. He would not be      delivered all of His own from sin
satisfy her longing for children.      a Nazarite outwardly but a true        and death!
Nor was it merely that Elkanah's       Nazarite who would proclaim by           In her prayer and vow Hannah
name and place be preserved in         his very life: "be as I and come       stands as a worthy example for
Canaan, for that would happen          out from the world and its cor-        us today. Times today are even
through his sons born by Penin-        ruptions and serve Jehovah." So        worse for the church. Apostasy
nah. Hannah's concern becomes          Hannah prays for a believing           abounds. Not only are many
obvious from her prayer and vow        son. Only God can make him a           truths denied, but Scripture itself
to the Lord.                           believer, which means that this        is denied. This means God is
   Notice her confession: "For this    son must be an elect in Christ         denied! God's Word is twisted to
child I prayed!" Hannah, a             from eternity, saved by the blood      say whatever men want it to say.
woman of faith like Sarah,             of the promised Seed. And he           Ungodly living abounds as well.
Rebekah, the mother of Samson,         must be a Nazarite. In these           Nothing is considered wrong or
and later Elisabeth, was looking       times of anarchy and oppression,       sinful anymore, so it seems.
for the Messiah to come. And           Israel did not need any more           Sometimes we too wonder and
God had shut up her womb. Han-         "Elis." Israel needed a deliverer      worry. Will Jehovah's cause and
nah represented a tiny minority        so that God's covenant promise         covenant triumph?
in Israel. These were times when       could be realized. Hannah saw            The answer is yes. Our God is
the carnal, ungodly element in         this. Out of her deep sorrow and       Jehovah, and He has saved us in
Israel was in control. Eli was         great concern for God's cause she      the blood of His Son our Lord.
weak at best. His sons were com-       begs the Lord for this special son.    Jehovah has promised to
pletely profane. These were              Jehovah heard her prayer!            preserve us and all His church
times of apostasy, bleak and             She prayed to Jehovah Who is         and bring us to glory. Jehovah
dark.                                  the sovereign Lord of heaven           will not fail! He is true to His
  So Hannah prays to Jehovah           and earth, the "I Am that I Am."       Word.
an effectual, fervent prayer. "I       Jehovah never changes. Jehovah           But God uses means. The
have prayed," she says. That           is true to His word of promise.        church needs children. Not just
word, prayed, refers to intense        Jehovah is the covenant-making,        children, nor merely children so
supplication, humble, earnest im-      covenant-keeping God of our            that we grow in number and
ploring. She was in bitterness of      salvation. Jehovah gives Hannah        become influential. The church
soul and wept sore. In her deep        this child.                            needs children not just to satisfy
sorrow Hannah poured out her             Because Jehovah heard her            its own interest and desires. The
heart to Jehovah, literally beg-       prayer, Hannah names him               church needs special children,
ging the Lord for this child.          Samuel, which means "asked of          Nazarite children, believing
  Notice she prays not merely          God." This is what this child shall    children. The church needs
for a child, and not for a baby        be all his days, "asked of God."       children who will be separated
girl, but for a man child. Hannah        True to her vow, Hannah              from the world of sin and
wants a special man child and          brings Samuel to Shiloh after he       dedicated to the Lord's service
vows that if God looks upon her        is weaned. The Jehovah has             for life. The church needs
affliction and gives her a man         given me my petition; therefore        children who will by God's grace
child she will give him to the         also I have lent or returned him       grow up to be elders and
Lord all the days of his life, and     to the Lord, she says.                 deacons, Christian school
no razor will come upon his              What a beautiful confession          teachers, Sunday School teachers.
head. This child must be a             Hannah makes! As long as he            The church needs children who
Nazarite. A Nazarite could not         lives he shall be the one returned     will become faithful fathers and
shave, drink wine or strong            io the Lord. Hannah dedicates          mothers. The church needs
drink, or touch a dead body. By        this son to the Lord's service for     children who will become saints
his life and appearance, a             his entire life. And Jehovah did       who represent God's covenant .in
Nazarite testified to Israel that      great things through this child.       the world, who fight the good
they must come out of the world        Samuel served as judge, prophet,       fight of faith. The church needs
of sin and consecrate themselves       snd priest in Israel. He was           children who will, in whatever
to the service of God. For this        privileged  to anoint David. And it    their calling, believe, defend, and
child Hannah prayed.                   was through David that God             live the truth to God's glory.

220  I The Standard Bearer


   The church needs very special          eternal if there be no one to            Young men you need that kind
children. It needs sons to be             preach the Word to them?               of wife - a wife like Hannah
returned to the Lord to serve               Yes, the church needs                who will cheerfully help you in
Him for life in the highest calling       preachers!                             Gods service and will fervently
a man can have, the ministry of             For this reason the church           pray out of deep concern for
the Word! God has saved us and            needs "Hannahs." The church            God's cause and covenant for
He will preserve us to the end.           needs godly women who are con-         children to be returned to the
But God uses means to do this             cerned about Gods covenant             Lord!
and the means is chiefly the              cause, women who humbly and              Mothers, the church needs you
preaching of the Word. Without            with tears beg the Lord for sons       desperately! The church needs
preachers there is no church!             and daughters to be returned to        your fervent prayers for children
   God has done in His wonderful          the Lords service for life.            to be dedicated to the Lord! Are
grace great things for us. He has           And especially does the church       you praying for this child?
given us that rich heritage of the        need "Hannahs" who will humbly           To all of us, whether we be old
truth, the Reformed faith. The            beg the Lord for sons - godly,         or young, married or single,
faith of our fathers is living still!     believing sons, gifted sons to be      Jesus said: "The fields are white
What will happen to that                  dedicated to the Lord. The             with harvest and the laborers are
precious heritage without                 church needs "Hannahs" who             few. Pray ye the Lord of the
preachers? God has given us               will pray for sons to be trained in    harvest that he will send forth
open doors to preach the Gospel.          Gods fear in order to be re-           reapers." Jehovah hears those
What will happen to missions              turned to the Lord for lifetime        prayers and He will send forth
without preachers!? God has               service in the ministry.               reapers to gather the harvest of
given covenant homes, Christian             This is Gods word to all of us!      His elect out of the nations.
schools, and countless blessings            Young women, you need God-           Jehovah will preserve His church
of His covenant. What will hap-           fearing husbands with whom you         and covenant in the world.
pen to our children and grand-            can pray for and receive from          Jehovah's name will be glorified!
children without preachers? How           God children of His covenant and         In that faith let us one and all
shall they hear the voice of the          for His service, sons to be            pray without ceasing for children
Good Shepherd and be known of             dedicated to the ministry of the       to be returned to the Lord. 0
Him and follow Him into life              Word!





Editorial                                 The Demise of the RES

   The Reformed Ecumenical                impenitent sinners. For an             homosexual practice of its.
Synod died last year. It was only         assembly like the RES, it is the       members, declaring that practic-
42 years old. The cause of death          inability to exclude from the          ing homosexuals have the right
was a kind of ecclesiastical AIDS         organization member churches           to the Lords Table and to church
- a fatal inability to counteract         that maintain doctrines and prac-      office. Although it has admon-
life-threatening diseases in the          tices that conflict both with the      ished the GKN for this, and
body. For a congregation, this is         rules of the organization and          although the GKN has adamantly
the inability to excommunicate            with the Word of God. Homo-            refused to recant, the RES de-
                                          sexuality played a prominent role      clined again last year to request
                                          in the RES's death. One of the         the GKN to resign its member-
Rev.  VanBaren  is pastor of the Prot-    member churches, The Reformed          ship in the RES. The motion that
estant Reformed Church of  Hudson-        Churches in the Netherlands            would have expelled the GKN
ville,  Michigan.                         (GKN), has publicly approved the       failed.

                                                                                                 The Standard Bearer  I227


   Signs that the RES was ter-         of the RES to women office-            are ". . . Holy Scripture as inter-
minally ill have been evident for      bearers in the church, the GKN -       preted by the Confessions . . . . "
some time. It could not make its       included among its delegates a         and ". . . are accepted because
criticism of membership in the         woman minister and a woman             they are in accordance with
apostate World Council of              elder. In the roll-call that opened    the.. . Scripture. " These phrases
Churches stick, but rather             the sessions, the Moderator re-        bind every subscriber to the
tolerated membership in the RES        ferred to the woman minister           Reformed Confessions without
on the part of the churches that       from the GKN as "Mrs. So-and-          possibility of equivocation
also affiliated with the WCC. It       So," whereupon that formidable         (although wicked men can still
could not exclude a church that        female sprang to her feet and, in      lie); and they constitute an
openly and officially denied the       a voice that reverberated              organization, Reformed (although
fundamental doctrine of the in-        throughout the building, roared,       it may fail to maintain its basis in
fallible inspiration of Holy Scrip-    "The Rev. Mrs. So-and-So." The         practice). By its original "Consti-
ture. It could not muster enough       Moderator then meekly repeated         tution," the RES was based
strength of holiness to condemn        her title; and the RES meekly          squarely on the Reformed Creeds
and cast off from itself the           seated her without dissent.            and, therefore, could rightly
abomination of homosexual prac-          It was not, however, the             claim to be Reformed - a Re-
tice. It could not enforce its own     refusal of the RES to exclude the      formed  ecumenical assembly.
rules, something that even self-       GKN that signaled the death of         This was important to the RES in
respecting clubs and societies in      that body. It was not even the         the past. In his opening address
the world think it necessary to        implicit acceptance of homo-           to the 1953 Synod of Edinburgh,
do. It could only engage in pious      sexuality, of the denial of Scrip-     the Rev. G. N. M. Collins said:
prattle and empty warning like         ture, and of membership in the           We who meet in the membership
some churchly Eli with wicked,         WCC that constituted the RES's         of this Reformed Ecumenical Synod
stubborn sons. The death of the        demise. Nor was it that several        have pledged ourselves to the Re-
RES, therefore, came as no sur-        more churches resigned, or             formed Faith as expressed in the
prise.                                 suspended, membership in the           great historic Confessions of our
   There is something uniquely         RES because of the refusal to put      Churches. To that Faith we must
pathetic, if not disgusting, about     out the GKN - the Orthodox             bear witness. Our pledge requires it;
a church assembly that does not        Presbyterian Church; the Re-           our age demands it. It has proved
                                                                              the correction of a wandering
have the courage of its convic-        formed Churches of New                 humanity before; in God's hand it
tions, to discipline or exclude the    Zealand; the Christian Reformed        will prove so again. (Acts, 1953, p. 5)
heretic or unrighteous, just as        Churches in the Netherlands              Writing in the RES booklet,
there is something pathetic about      (CGKN); and the Reformed               "The Reformed Ecumenical
the human body that lies ex-           Churches in South Africa (GKSA).       Synod: A Venture in Confessional
posed to the ravages of every in-      Neither was it the change of           Ecumenism," in 1965, Collins
vading germ. The RES could not         name from Reformed Ecumenical          asserted that "it was the aim of
say no to the clearest attack          .Synod  to Reformed Ecumenical         its (the RES's - DJE) founders
upon the Word of God and to the        Council.                               that it should be a distinctly
vilest violation of God's Law. The       But the death of the RES was         Reformed ecumenical move-
GKN on her part, a brazen hussy,       its revision of its "Constitution,"    ment . . . It was with this in view
eats, wipes her mouth, and says,       specifically the "Basis" of the RES    that the Synod resolved to
"I have done no wickedness."           in Article II. The "Constitution"      restrict its constituent member-
The "REC News Exchange" of             adopted in 1972 expressed that         ship to Churches which unam-
November 8, 1988 reports, amaz-        the basis of the RES was Holy          biguously adhere to the historic
ing to relate, that the reaction of    Scripture "as interpreted by the       Reformed Confessions" (p. 1).
the GKN to the events at RES           Confessions of the Reformed              That it be distinctly Reformed,
Harare 1988 was extreme anger          faith," which confessions are then     according to the Reformed Con-
at the mistreatment of the GKN         named. The "Constitution" went         fessions, is important to the RES
and at the failure to defend "the      on to say that "the Confessions of     (now REC) no longer. It has
homosexual brothers and sisters        the Reformed faith are accepted        changed its basis. It has elided
in the church." Only narrowly          because they are in accordance         the words, "as interpreted by the
did a motion to withdraw from          with the divine truth as revealed      Confessions of the Reformed
the RES fail. I am reminded of an      in Scripture." The crucially im-       faith," from its confession that
incident at RES Chicago 1984.          portant phrases, as every Re-          Scripture is the basis; and in the
Knowing full well the objection        formed man and woman knows,            place of the original acceptance

222 / The Standard Bearer -


of the Confessions "because they       In their confession in today's world       doctrine of Scripture in Articles
are in accordance with . . . Scrip-    the member churches feel connected         3-7 of the Belgic Confession for
ture" it now has merely "the sub-      with their forefathers whq have con-       that of the GKN in its booklet,
ordinate standard . . . shall be       fessed their faith in (the vakious  RI+    "God with Us . . . on the Nature
the Reformed faith as a body of        formed Confessions).  (Acts of the Re-     of the Authority of Scripture,"
truth articulated in (the various      formed Ecumenical Synod, Chicago,          and by repudiating Paul's con-
Reformed Confessions)." These          1984, p. 298)                              demnation of homosexuality and
changes have effectively, if sub-        ". . . feel connected with their         lesbianism in Romans 1:18ff. for
tly, removed the RES from the          forefathers!" This is the creedal          the GKN's approval of both in its
basis of the Reformed Confes-          subscription of the GKN! The RES           "Homophilia."
sions (or, should we say, re-          did not give her this. But what it           It will become abundantly evi-
moved the basis from under the         did give her is not a whit more            dent from the actions and pub-
RES). The basis now is the Bible       effective to bind the RES (now             lications of the REC in the future
interpreted as every church or         REC) and the member churches               that it is no longer Reformed. In-
every delegate chooses to inter-       to the Reformed Confessions than           deed, the REC already begins to
pret it. Lip service is indeed paid    that limp, silly "feel connected           show its colors in the publication
to the Reformed Confessions as a       with their forefathers."                   of the papers of the RES con-
"subordinate standard," but even         The RES lost confidence that             ferences in Harare, Zimbabwe in
so it is carefully stated that this    the doctrines contained in the             1988, Christ's Rule: A Light for
"subordinate standard' is not the      Reformed Confessions are the               Every Corner.  A more dismal col-
Confessions themselves, much           very truth of God's own Word,              lection of papers trumpeting as
less all the doctrines taught in       Holy Scripture. It determined to           Reformed every wind of doctrine
the Confessions, but rather "a         dissociate itself from the position        now blowing across the ec-
body of truth articulated' in the      that to be Reformed is to be com-          clesiastical landscape has never
Confessions. We may be certain         mitted to the historic Reformed            been bound between two covers.
that the intention is to allow         Confessions as the expression of           The REC's Christ's Rule is wide
every church and every delegate        Scripture. This comes out also in          open to the charismatic move-
to the REC to determine for            the sections on "Purpose" and              ment, including the "power
himself (and herself!) just exactly    "Membership" in the revised                evangelism" of John Wimber. It
what the body of truth is that is      "Constitution." Whereas the                urges the adaptation of the faith
articulated in the Confessions and     original "Constitution" spoke of           to various cultures (one professor
just exactly what the articulation     the purpose of giving "united              suggests replacing the elements
of that body of truth may be.          testimony to the Reformed faith,"          of the Lord's Supper with por-
  The Reformed Ecumenical              the revision rather speaks of a            ridge and sweet beer). It does not
Synod is dead. The reason is not       testimony to the "biblical faith."         shrink from approving syncretism
merely its change of name. The         The original limited membership            (the unholy mixture of Christian-
reason is that it is no longer a       to churches which "profess and             ity with pagan religions). It very
confessional organization. It is no    maintain the Reformed faith and            strongly encourages the notion
longer Reformed.                       subscribe to the Basis as ex-              that no one can ever know what
  This was the purpose of the          pressed in Art, II," which "Basis"         truth is. It pours contempt on the
GKN when she proposed revision         was Holy Scripture "as inter-              Reformed faith ("the ghetto-
of the "Constitution" in 1981. It      preted by the Confessions of the           mentality of confessionalism";
was the GKN that instigated the        Reformed faith." The revision              "our hanging on for dear life to
revision of the "Constitution."        grants membership to all                   our theological formulations . . .
Feeling the pressure on herself        churches which declare                     may be precisely the greatest
from some of the churches in the       allegiance to "the Reformed faith          obstacle . . . ."). An exception is
RES because of her radical depar-      as a living and ever-reforming             the paper by W. H. Velema, a
ture from the Reformed faith as        heritage." For the REC, "Re-               voice crying in the wilderness.
set down in the Confessions, the       formed" is only some descent                 The day of the Reformed faith
GKN asked that the "Constitu-          from the forefathers, a faint              is far spent!
tion" be revised. What she had in      memory of by-gone days, and the
mind became clear in the pro-          activity of always reforming.
posal of the GKN that the              "Always reforming" is perhaps
reference to the Reformed Con-         the chief mark of the Reformed
fessions in the revised "Basis"        church for the REC, "always re-
read as follows:                       forming," e.g., by abandoning the

                                                                                                   The Standard Bearer  / 223


    To the Protestant Reformed         vice of the Rev. Herman Hoek-           sion (cf. the Acts, 1952, pp. 83ff.).
Churches and the other denomi-         sema, decided in 1952 to accept         This spirit may never be lost
nations that are determined to be      the invitation of the RES to send       among us. For it is the spirit of
Reformed according to the Con-         official visitors to the RES Edin-      the Reformed faith itself, which
fessions comes the urgent ad-          burgh, 1953. Among the grounds          seeks to manifest, and enjoy, the
monition, "Hold fast what you          were that we have a calling to          unity of the church. But the unity
have!"                                 witness of the truth wherever the       of Christ's church is the unity of
   This is not a call to isolation.    Lord calls and that it is a health-     the truth, i.e., Holy Scripture as
The Synod of the Protestant            ful experience to rub elbows with       interpreted by the Reformed Con-
Reformed Churches, on the ad-          others of the Reformed persua-          fessions. 0                         -DJE





Letters


Rutherford and Resistance              Reformed theologians of the past        The authority of the king is a trust
   I found the special issue of The    for guidance. As our background         originating indeed with God, but
Standard Bearer  dealing with          is Presbyterian and has its roots       reaching the king by the suffrages of
"The Reformed Faith on Civil           in Scottish Presbyterianism, it is      the people. It is a trust, not a gift,
Government" (Dec. 1, 1988) both        not surprising that the teachings       and if the trust be abused it can be
interesting and beneficial. This is    of the Scottish divines on civil        properly recalled by the people, for
indeed a subject of practical im-      government have had much in-            they are the fount of power. A king
portance for Reformed Christians       fluence here and, I suppose, upon       is essentially a living law; an ab-
today and particularly so for                                                  solute man is a creature they call a
                                       a large part of Presbyterian            tyrant, and no lawful1 king. If the
those who live in a situation of       churches throughout the world.          king have not the consent of the
civil and political unrest, as is        While I agree that the articles       people, he is an usurper, for we
presently the case in Northern         in the special issue are Reformed       know no external lawful1 calling that
Ireland. During the past twenty        and in harmony with the Re-             kings have now, or their family to
years in our country, there have       formed confessions and the              the crown, but only the call of the
been massive public demonstra-         teachings of Calvin, they do not        people.
tions against government policy,       give the full picture of Reformed       Nevertheless, I believe that
province-wide strikes organized        thought on this subject. I feel that    Rutherford sets forth important
by our elected representatives         the views of the Scottish divines       principles that can be applied by
(one of which brought down our         developed in the fires of persecu-      the Reformed Christian, partic-
local government assembly), cam-       tion are worthy of consideration.       ularly in situations that are not
paigns of civil disobedience, and      I refer in particular to Samuel         black and white. It is in these
an alternative parliament estab-       Rutherford's great work,  Lex Rex       "grey" areas where the "power"
lished. The differing reactions to     or the Law and the Prince,  con-        is not clearly recognizable, e.g.,
these events by Christians have        sidered by many to be the best          war, civil war, and the removal
resulted in much division within       ever written on civil government.       of the higher power by the lower
churches and even amongst              We may not agree with all of            powers, that we face the greatest
families. One positive aspect of       Rutherford's arguments, e.g., his       difficulties as to our calling.
this has been to drive Reformed        statement:                                I am interested in your views
Christians to search the Scrip-                                                on the teachings of Rutherford
tures and the teachings of the                                                 and other Presbyterians on this
                                                                               subject. In particular, are they a
                                                                               development, as many would
                                                                               claim, of the teachings of John


224  f The Standard Bearer


Calvin and therefore reconcilable          Response                                   Clarke's question will await this
with the views expressed in the               We have asked Mr. Clarke to             article. Interested readers in the
special issue, or are they a depar-        present Samuel Rutherford's                U.S. can obtain Rutherford's book
ture from the Reformed Faith               views on resistance (views that            (which despite the title is written
and Scripture itself and therefore         have had great influence upon              in English) from Sprinkle Publica-
to be exposed and repudiated as            Presbyterianism especially in the          tions, P.O. Box 1094, Harrison-
error?                                     British Isles, as Mr. Clarke points        burg, Virginia 22801. 13               -Ed.
          John Clarke                      out) in an article to be published
          Larne, Northern Ireland          in The SB. Our answer to Mr.




                                           The Cost of Christian
                                                 Education
                                           The GKN and the REC
A// Around Us
Rev. Cise VanBaren                         "The Presbyterian"

The Cost of Christian                      send their children. That's the good       come today than it did forty years
Education                                  news. All who worry that the current       ago, six-and-a-half times as much as
                                           generation lacks commitment can            it did thirty years ago, two-and-a-half
  My attention was called to an            stop worrying. They have it!. . .          times as much as it did twenty years
article in The Banner, October                To put it another way: wages and        ago, and almost 50 percent more
10, 1988, which points out the             most living expenses today are about       than it did just ten years ago.
great cost of Christian education.         nine times higher than they were in         Our school systems on the
Though some of the figures used            1945. If tuition and the financial         grade school level still have the
do not apply to our own system             help from the church had risen at          "sliding scale" for tuition. This
of education, there are important          this same rate, the full cost for three    means that the parents with but
points which were stressed.                children in elementary school would        one child in school are generally
                                           now be $1,350, with the church still
  To check  what  percentage of in-                                                   paying more than the actual cost
                                           picking up about 40 percent of that
come parents have spent on Chris-          cost through the `sliding scale" (a        of education of the child, while
tian education, I did a little digging     system, determined by the school           those with two or more children
into records of tuition costs and          board, that reduces the tuition per        in school pay considerably less
wages for the years 1945, `55, `65,        child paid by parents of more than         than the total cost. I am con-
`75, and `86. . . . What I found may       one child). Instead, tuition for three     vinced that this is a good practice
surprise you.                              children in 1987 was $6,588, and           to follow, though the parents
  If net income . . . is used, the cost    many churches have no commitment           with one child in school might
of Christian education is now ap-          to the sliding scale in their annual       claim the arrangement to be un-
proximately 40 percent of the              budgets.
average wages earned by parents                                                       fair. It is, in fact, a good business
                                             One might argue that the average
who have three children in elemen-                                                    arrangement since this enables
                                           wage of Christian Reformed Church
tary school. And today's parents still                                                all parents to 
                                           members is higher than the figures                            keep  their children
                                           for the area shown by the United           in the Christian school. If parents
                                           States Chamber of Commerce, and            with two or more children of
                                           perhaps this is so. But the trend re-      grade school age could no longer
Rev.  VanBaren  is pastor of the Prot-     mains the same  - Christian educa-         keep these children in Christian
estant Reformed Church of  Hudson-         tion takes ten times the share of  in-     school because they were unable
ville,  Michigan.

                                                                                                          The Standard Bearer  / 225


to pay the full tuition for each        defeated two motions to with-            England. It is his desire to have
child, that income would be lost        draw or suspend membership in            established in the Bristol area a
to the school. Then parents with        the REC. A report of this action         Presbyterian church to which -he
one child in the school .would          is in Calvinist Contact,. November       could belong (he currently is a.
pay even more tuition to make           2 5 ,   1 9 8 8 :                        member of a Reformed Baptist
up this deficit. So a "sliding            After a full day of heated debate,     congregation). In discouragement,
scale" for tuition is of benefit for    the Reformed Churches of the Neth-       and for other reasons, he had
the school and all the parents          erlands (GKN) narrowly accepted  the     decided to discontinue publica-
concerned.                              advice of the delegates  fo the Re-      tion of this worthwhile magazine
   But of great concern to the          formed Ecumenical Synod (now             at the end of this year. However,
whdle church is that Christian          REC), Harare, 1988, fo remain            a number of his readers have
education be affordable. It is true     members in the Reformed Ecumen-          persuaded him to change his
that Christian parents are to put       ical Council. Two motions put for-
                                        ward to withdraw and suspend             mind. He writes:
first things first. Surely these        membership were both defeated by           Since the publication of the last
ought not to insist that they have      fhe synod, and the delegates' advice     issue fhe Editor has received a
the luxuries of this life - then be     was accepted by a vote of 37 0u.t of     number of letters expressing regret
willing to pay for tuition if there     73 delegates.                            at the &sure  of the magazine . . . .
is anything left. Jesus has some-         A number of delegates in the GIUV      In the light of this development it is
thing to say about that in              synod were incensed by what they         proposed to continue publication in
Matthew  6:33.                          called the mistreatment of the  GKN      1989  and the Editor is grateful to all
                                                                                 who have faithfully supported the
  Still, with the &st of Christian      in Harare. They also charged that        work over the past year. It is hoped
education continuing to increase        the GKN delegation to Harare  had        that fhe small increase in subscrip-
(and requiring a greater and            not adequately defended the GKN,         fion  will not act as a deterrent and
greater percentage of net in-           and in particular had not defended
                                        homosexuals in fhe church. The ?p-       that interest in our glorious Re-
come), there should be additional       ponents  of the REC within the GKN       formed Faith and Presbyterian
help found to assist struggling         synod first proposed an outright         distinctives  will not be diminished.
parents. The churches regularly         withdrawal because of the shame to         I, for one, am extremely
take collections. Drives are con-       which the GKN had been subjected.        pleased to hear of Mr. Horne's
ducted to pay for part of the cost      This proposal received only 17 votes.    decision. He prints many worth-
of education. Perhaps more              A second proposal to suspend             while articles in his little
ought to be done to provide addi-       membership and give the Deputies         magazine. Some of the articles
tional help. What would you sug-        for Ecumenical Affairs the chance to     come from our Standard Bearer,
gest?                                   evaluate membership critically re-       or our Theological Journal. The
                                        ceived 32 votes.                         most recent issue contains an ar-
The GKN and the REC                       It is only a source of amaze-          ticle by the Rev. J.A. Heys and a
                                        ment that there are those in the
   The Reformed Ecumenical                                                       book review by Prof. H. Hanko.
                                        GKN who dare speak of the
Council (formerly: Synod) had                                                    It also has a recommendation to
                                        "shame" to their church when it
considerable controversy in its                                                  purchase the books by the Rev.
                                        is subjected to criticism because
last meeting this year in Harare.                                                G. Vos and .Meditations  on the
                                        of their stand on homosexuality
On the line was the question                                                     Psalms by Rev. J.A. Heys. In fact,
                                        and on their interpretation of
whether the GKN (Reformed                                                        Mr. Horne regularly promotes
                                        Scripture. The "shame" is, of
Churches of the Netherlands)                                                     our literature in his magazine.
                                        course, that the GKN could dare
could remain members of the                                                      But there are other informative
                                        follow its present course - and
REC in light of the fact that these                                              articles about and for Presby-
                                        still call itself "Reformed." 0
churches have accepted practic-                                                  terians that are of interest to us
ing homosexuals as members and          "The Presbyterian"                       as well. For those who would
have taken a very liberal position                                               desire to receive this magazine,
on the infallibility of Scripture.        There is a little magazine, The        both to be instructed by some ex-
The REC decided that the GKN            Presbyterian, published by Tony          cellent articles as well as to help
could remain members in spite of        Horne (9 Church Road, Thorn-             promote a Reformed Presbyteri-
their unreformed positions.             bury, Bristol, .BS12 lEJ, England)       anism in England (a worthwhile
Several denominations resigned          that arrives in my mail every two        "mission" work), send a money
membership in the REC as a              months (six issues a year). Mr.          order for $14.00 to the above ad-
result (including the Orthodox          Horne is expending great effort          dress. 0
Presbyterian Church). After that        :as well as expense) to promote
meeting, the GKN itself narrowly        the cause of Presbyterianism in

226  / The Standard Bearer


                                              Christ the
~
 Guest Article
     Rev. Robert Harbach                      Sheepfold Door

            I. The Door of the Fold           Thou plainly; and speakest no           of their shepherds to the sheep-
           II. The Folded Sheep               proverb. " Neither does Peter ever      fold for the night. The sheepfold
          III. The True Shepherds             use the word parable, but instead       was a rather large, stone-walled
               Who Enter by the Door          this word prouerb. "But it is hap-      corral, which, for the night, .
        In this tenth chapter of Jqhn's       pened unto them according to            enclosed the flocks of a number
     Gospel we have double revela-            the true proverb . . ." (2 Pet.         of shepherds. In the morning the
     tion: first, the door revelation         2:22). What is meant by this            shepherd entered the fold, being
     (l-lo), and, second, the shepherd        word paroimia is, figure of             admitted by the porter, calling
     revelation (11-18). Verses l-5 con-      speech. Take note that Jesus            his own sheep by name, and
     tain an illustration of the door         spoke this parable (proverb) "un-       leading them out. He does this by
     revelation; verses 6-10 contain          to them." This refers us back to        putting forth his own sheep,
     the inferpretation of the door           verse one, "Verily, verily, (amen!      usually by calling the name of
     revelation. The illustrative part        amen!) I say unto you." The pro-        the herd leader, putting it forth,
     puts before us the under-                noun, in turn, reaches back to          3s it would never make any ini-
     shepherds and the porter (l-3a),         9:34-41.  The two pronouns,             tial move of its own accord.
     then the Shepherd and the sheep          "them" (v. 6) and "you" (v. 1)          Then the rest of the flock would
     (3b-5). There are interesting            refer to "the Pharisees" (9:40).        follow in its train, the shepherd
     figures of speech in the passage.          The Lord is telling the               leading them all out (10:2, 4).
     There are the fold, the door, the        Pharisees that though they ar-            In the night scene, the flocks
     porter, the thief, the sheep, the        rogantly claim to be spiritually        are folded, the door is secured by
     shepherd, the hireling, the wolf.        clear-sighted and farsighted, they      the porter who is sentinel at his
     Christ is the door. Who is the           are really blind and unfit for the      post for the night. He is a watch-
     porter? who is the thief? the            office of shepherd in Israel. The       man on the walls and at the door
     wolf? the hireling?                      man born blind was an example           guarding against a possible "thief
       Strictly speaking, this double         of a true sheep of Christ's flock:      2nd robber" who, bypassing the
     revelation is not a parable (v. 6,       he would not listen to the voice        entrance, might attempt pole-
     KJV). The wdrd is not parabole,          of strangers, but he did know the       vaulting the wall. "But he that
     a word which John never uses,            true (good) Shepherd's voice.           entereth in by the door is (Greek)
     but paroimia, which the KJV              What Jesus is doing here is de-         a shepherd of the sheep." The
     translates prouerb, as in 16:25,         nouncing the Pharisees as false         scene then reveals a thief, a rob-
     29. "These things have I spoken          shepherds. So this Good                 ber, and a shepherd (1, 2). In the
     unto you in proverbs; but the            Shepherd Discourse arose im-            morning the porter opens to the
     time cometh when I shall no              mediately out of the miracle of         shepherd who identifies himself
     more speak unto you in prouerbs,         the healing of the man born             zt the door and is admitted to
     but I shall show you plainly of          blind and its effects of chapter 9.     take charge of his flock for the
     the Father . : . . His disciples said      We may look at the picture            day. He then guides his own
     unto Him, `Lo, now speakest              th.is way: Jesus, after the labor of    ,heep to the particular pasture he
                                              that day (9:4), leaves Jerusalem        las found for them. Keeping in
                                              for Bethany calling attention to        nind that double revelation,
     Rev. Harbach is a minister emeritus      the flocks returning from their
     in the. Protestant Rehirmed Churches.    mountain pastures under the care

                                                                                                      The Standard Bearer  I227


Christ is the door of the sheep-           The sheepfold and pasture (v.      shepherds of the sheepfold, ex-
fold, and He is the chief (master)       9) are spheres in the visible        cept one who enters through
shepherd.                                kingdom of grace. Some of these      Christ as the door. No one can
  `Christ is the door of the sheep-      spheres are the covenant home,       take up the calling of a faithful
fold. He did say (v. 7) "I am the        the covenant school, and the '       undershepherd of Christ's
door of the sheep." But we must          Christian church. The minister of    spiritual flock but one who enters
exercise care in answering the          the Word moves in and out of          by the door. This one alone has
question whether the central idea       these spheres preaching the           the qualifications Christ alone
of the figure is that of the door       Gospel. As shepherd he in this        gives. This one alone has re-
by which the sheep, or by which         way finds (provides) pasture. "I      ceived the call required by the
the shepherds enter the fold! The       am the door; by me if any one         Chief Shepherd. Only such a
latter is the specific idea, missed     (who is a shepherd - masculine)       shepherd is in his calling safe and
by most commentators. For the           enter in he shall be safe and         sound (Cf. Matt. 22:13).
contrast is not between sheep           sound, and shall go in and out           The folded sheep are distin-
which enter the fold, and sheep         and find pasture." The sheep do       guished from persons "not
which do not, but between a per-        not do this. The shepherd always      Christ's sheep" (10:26). They are
son who enters by the door, and         attends to finding pasture for the    Christ's own (10:14). These in-
a person who climbs up some             sheep (Acts 1:21; Num. 27:15-17).     clude not only Jewish but Gentile
other way. The idea in general is       Moses had prayed that the Lord        elect (10:6).
the sheepfold door by which both        would set a man over the con-           The nation of Israel was like
sheep (at night) and shepherds (in      gregation of Israel who, after his    the organism of a seed. There
the morning) enter.                     (Moses') death, would go before       was an Israel (the seed) within
  The "porter" `is, literally, door-    them, to lead them out and bring      Israel (the shell). There were
keeper (masculine gender). The          them in as a shepherd does with       descendants of Abraham who
hierarchical high priest's court-       his sheep. Joshua was qualified       were children after the flesh; the
yard may have a portress                by the Holy Spirit to be this         rest were children after (accord-
(feminine gender), John 18:16,          undershepherd, and was ordained       ing to) the Spirit. The latter were
17, but the doorkeeper of the           to the task and given a charge to     "Israelites indeed," "Jews inward-
sheepfold is a male, not a female.      enter faithfully upon it and get      ly." They had not only the cir-
Jesus does not interpret this           on with it. So, at Joshua's word,     cumcision of -A-braham, but the
figure. But the door is not             the flock of Israel went out and      faith of Abraham. "The Lord hath
Michael the archangel, nor some         came in, he and all the children      set apart him that is godly for
lesser angel, not Abraham, nor          of Israel with him (27:21).           Himself" (Psm. 4:3). "The sheep"
Moses, so revered by the                   The sheep cannot get into the      in that day of our Lord were "the
Pharisees, nor, very definitely,        sheepfold any other way than by       lost sheep of the house of Israel,"
the virgin Mary, and absolutely         a shepherd who leads them in          now redeemed with the precious
not Peter, so revered in Roman          through the door. The walls of        blood of Christ, "as of a lamb
Catholic tradition as porter at the     the visible church may be under-      without spot and without
gates of heaven. Jesus, at verse        mined or overleaped, but getting      blemish" (1 Pet. 1:18, 19). They
9, says with an absolute, divine        into the fold of the spiritual        were then "a little flock," a
assertiveness, "I am the door."         church is only by the door. "By       Jewish flock, which Jesus re-
Sheep are not at all very asser-        (through) Me," through the            ferred to as "this flock" (10:16,
tive. A shepherd dog is very            mediation of Christ, men enter        Gk), which with the Gentiles
assertive. The humble do not ex-        the sphere of the covenant (and       would form "one fold" under the
ercise a bold assertiveness; the        not merely come under the ad-         "one shepherd."
proud do that. But that is a            ministration of the covenant).          True shepherds always enter
unique, an exclusive assertive-         "By Me if anyone (who is a            the fold to tend their sheep by
ness. No one else does, nor may         shepherd) enter in, he shall be       the door (v. 2). False shepherds,
assert this. "I am, exclusively, the    saved, that is, "be safe and          apostate ministers, do not enter
door." As we said, the door in          sound' (Thayer's Greek lexicon).      by the door. They intrude them-
the first place is specifically for     Otherwise, he himself shall be a      selves into the ministry by hav-
the shepherds. Neither shepherds        castaway (1 Cor. 4:27).               ing climbed up some other way.
nor sheep can get into the fold            No one can enter among the         The honor of shepherds they
any other way.                          occupants of the fold as a            took to themselves, not being
                                        shepherd, no one can lawfully         called a God (Heb. 5:4). These
                                        claim to be one of these              were the Pharisees, the "you"

228  / The Standard Bearer


and "them" of verses 1, 6. They        refer these words to Him. Look-       shepherd is not brought into the
were thieves and robbers.              ing at verse 2 more carefully we      record until verse 11. "A
Thieves steal by stealth; robbers      see that the original reads "a        shepherd of the sheep" refers to
steal by extreme force, even by        shep.herd." Three human persons       one of the subordinate shepherds
the violence of murder (v. 10).        are in view: a thief, a robber (so    of the sheep. They are the official
Judas was a thief (12:6); Saul of      the two are not one and the           shepherds of Israel, like the
Tarsus was a robber/murderer           same), and a shepherd. Besides,       seventy disciples, the twelve
(Acts 9).                              Christ  does not enter the fold       apostles, the ministers of the ear-
  Who is the shepherd of the           through Himself as the door!          ly New Testament church. Cl
sheep? Be careful at this point,       Jesus is contrasting what a                       (To be continued, D.V.)
for although Jesus says, "I am the     shepherd does and what false
Good Shepherd," we must not            shepherds do. Christ as the





 The Day                               Idolatry and
of Shadows
Rev. john Heys                         Heresy Introduced

  The shadow of a lion cannot          lies before the seed of the ser-      He put those skins on them and
hurt you the way the lion itself       pent. War may bring awesome           did not simply present them so
can. The shadow of a tornado           devastation. Some diseases may        that they could put them on.
likewise cannot work the               produce excruciating pains. But       Salvation from beginning to end
devastation that the tornado itself    all of this is but a shadow of        is Gods work. What a beautiful
brings. These shadows may fill         what lies ahead when Christ           shadow we have here! Here is
one with fear; but they shed no        returns upon the clouds of            the first shadow of the cross of
blood, and cause nothing to be         heaven, and those for whom He         Christ. He is The Lamb of God
blown to pieces.                       did not die are cast into the lake    that taketh away the sin of the
  Likewise the thorns and              of fire.                              world. God shed blood to make
thistles, in the land into which         There is, however, another          those skins for Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve were driven after         shadow which appeared and             God realized death for the salva-
God spoke the mother promise,          which we should see, when             tion of His people. Death and
in no way and to no degree com-        Adam and Eve walked away              blood there in that garden fore-
pare with the punishment of hell,      from the tree of life, where they     shadowed Christ's death and the
which God has in His Word              had covenant fellowship with          shedding of His blood on
revealed to be the punishment          God before they ate of the tree of    Calvary. And take careful but
that will fall upon the sinners for    knowledge of good and evil.           strong note of the fact that those
whom Christ did not die. And we        They walked out, as sent by God,      skins were placed upon them
had better take hold of the truth      and were driven out by Him ac-        before they were driven out of
that the curse, under which the        cording to Genesis 3:23, 24. But      the garden. As we lie under the
earth and its inhabitants lie to-      let us not overlook or minimize       curse, as it rests upon this earth,
day, is only a shadow of what          the truth that we find in Genesis     we can and should rejoice in the
                                       3:21: God "made coats of skin,        truth that we are clothed with
                                       and clothed them."                    the righteousness of Christ. Those
                                          Take note of the fact that God     coats did not declare that our sin
Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in    made those skins, and that it was     is covered and hidden from the
the Protestant Reformed Churches.      He who clothed Adam and Eve.          eyes of God. Not only can He see

                                                                                             The Standard Bearer  I229


us underneath those coats, as far          Such was not the case with           another seed instead of Abel."
as our skin and bodies are con:         Cain and the offering which he          Eve again uses Gods name.
cerned; but He looks even more          brought, as recorded in Genesis           Take note of the fact. that she
deeply and sees the thoughts and        4:3-7. In the first place, it is not    called him another seed instead
desires in our minds and hearts.        even called a sacrifice. Rather we      of Abel. Cain was also her seed;
That Adam and Eve were                  find the Hebrew word which              but he-was of the seed of the ser-
covered with skins means that           means a present, a gift. It is true     pent from a spiritual point of
God clothed them with the               that we read the same thing .           view. She is referring to Seth as
righteousness of Christ. Those          about Abel. He brought an offer-        belonging to that seed of the
coats were a shadow of Christ's         ing, and did not come with a            woman mentioned in the mother
righteousness that makes us             sacrifice. But Abel's was a thank       promise; and she has already
beautiful in Gods eyes.                 offering for that salvation which       seen that the seed of the serpent
   Similarly, the ark in the taber-     we have through the blood and           would crush the heel of the Seed
nacle built in Moses' day, and in       death of Christ. He was con-            of the woman, Christ. She did not
the temple built in Solomon's           cerned about sin, and came with         see it as clearly as we do; but she
day, had a covering of solid gold       a lamb, because he was thankful         did see this sharp distinction that
on which the blood of a lamb            that God does forgive through           there is in the human race. She
was sprinkled. Under that solid         the shedding of blood. It is true       did see a clear shadow of the en-
gold covering was the law of            that offering up fruit brings death     mity between church and world,
God. And that mercy seat, as that       to that fruit. But it is not shed-      that will be horrifyingly great in
solid gold covering was called,         ding of blood. Cain did shed            the days of the antichrist.
did not hide the sins which the         blood, the blood of his brother           Because of these things that
elect committed. It did not keep        Abel; but he had no interest in or      we read of Eve, rather than of
God from seeing that law and our        thought even of salvation from          Adam, some claim that Adam
lawlessness. As the holy God that       sin through the shedding of             was not of the seed of the
He is, He would not do a thing          blood.                                  woman, was not a believer, and
like that! No, the blood of the           But before we get into this           that in this first family, even
lamb, which represented Christ,         shadow of what the world does,          before children were born, there
covered that law in the sense           and in the days of the antichrist       are both of these two seeds. And
that in Gods mercy the righ-            will do universally, let us take        that is why God speaks of the
teousness of Christ is given His        note of the fact that we have           seed of the woman rather than of
people; so that the law under-          here in the book of Genesis a           the man. This seems to be true
neath does not condemn them,            very striking fact. After Adam          from what we read in the New
but declares that they have             and Eve were driven out of the          Testament. Thus in I Corinthians
perfect love to God and to their        garden, very little is stated about     15:22: "For as in Adam all die."
neighbor. And Adam and Eve left         them. What is revealed presents           However, the sacrifice of Abel,
that garden of Eden clothed with        us with more evidence of Eve's          and even the offering of Cain,
Christ's righteousness so that,         faith in God than of Adam's faith.      makes it plain that Adam had
even though they were driven            Not once do we read of Adam us-         taught_them  the truth concerning
from that which was a shadow of         ing Gods name. Eve does. When           man's fall, and their calling to
the coming new Jerusalem, they          her firstborn son was born she          bring sacrifices and offerings as
would enter into that holy city,        said, "I have gotten a man from         works of faith in God and in His
where fellowship with God will          Jehovah." `I`hat is the Hebrew          lromises. Adam did not teach
be far more wonderful than that         text. In Genesis 5:3 we read,           Zain to come with the kind of of-
shadow thereof, which they en-          "And Adam begat a son in his            `eying that he brought. We do
joyed before they fell into sin. All    own likeness, after his image;          not read of one act of AdamThat
their sacrificing outside of that       and called his name Seth." Now          gives undeniable evidence that
beautiful garden, the cherubim          this was after Abel's death. He         he was an unbeliever. Besides,
with a flaming sword being be-          did not use God's name as Eve           God covered Adam as well as
tween them and that garden,             had done. At least it is not            Eve with a coat of skin realized
manifested their faith in being         recorded. Still more, in Genesis        ly shedding of blood.
covered by Christ's blood.              4:25 we read this of the birth of         There is here in Genesis 4 a
                                        Seth: "And Adam knew his wife           striking shadow of what we find
                                        again; and she bare a son, and          already in the world today, and
                                        ,called his name Seth:. For God,        Nil1 be accentuated in, the day of
                                        said she, hath appointed me             :he antichrist. There in Cain's act

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of killing of Abel we have a              was going to give God some-            "    up to heaven, as it is so often pic-
shadow of the amazingly wide-             thing. It was not an act of thank-          tured in Bible story books; and
spread persecutions of the seed           fulness but of seeking more                 that Cain's was blown down next
of the woman; but let us not              pleasure for his flesh. And when            to his altar and at his feet. That
overlook the fact that the very           he killed Abel he clearly revealed          picture will surely show quite a
dangerous and universal spread            that he hated God, and that if he           change of attitude on God's part.
of false doctrines already had its        could, he would kill God! For               But it would be far ,more Scrip: _
shadow there in Cain's offering           Abel represented God as one of              tural to see it as it happened on
and bold reply to God. Cain               those whom He had chosen in                 Mt. Carmel, when God did not
introduced into this world                Christ, and as one of those whorl           touch the offering of Baa1 and his
idolatry and heresy.                      He had brought forth-by a.                  worshipers, but did send, down
   Cain was taught that there is a        spiritual rebirth.                          fire to consume Elijah's offering.
God. But here already we see a              Here we have such a clear                 We are not even sure how much
haughty breaking of the first             shadow of the cross of Christ,              skill man had in that day to ig-
commandment in Gods law. Cain             and a fulfillment of the mother             nite wood and burn sacrifices.
had a god other than the                  promise that the seed of the ser-           And would Cain really burn fruit
almighty, sovereign, holy God             pent would bruise the heel of the           of the ground? Is that perhaps
who created all things, and upon          seed of the woman. Yes, the seed            the right picture - that Abel set
whom we depend for every                  of the serpent killed Christ and            his offering on fire, while Cain
breath of life. Idolatry was there;       did not simply crush His heel in            simply placed it on an altar?
and it produced false doctrines in        the literal sense. But the idea is            There was without a doubt
an attempt to defend this                 that although the church will suf-          some visible sign that God had
idolatry. Cain formed his own             fer greatly at the hand of the              respect to Abel's and not to
ideas about God. Yes, he was try-         seed of the serpent, they will not          Cain's offerings. And that word
ing to please his god; but he did         be kept from reaching the glory             translated as respect means to
not have Jehovah in mind. He              that God has promised us in                 look at. God would not look at
had formed his own ideas about            Christ. Christ would rise from the          Cain's Somehow He made it
God, even as today all the false          dead. His elect children would be           clear that He ,looked with
doctrines are men's ideas about           sorely persecuted and walk                  satisfaction at Abel's and not at
Jehovah, the I AM!                        through this life in a very painful         Cain's. And Cain was aware of
  Take note also of the fact that         way. But when Christ returns,               the respect God had for Abel's
Cain introduced the false doctrine        that bruised heel will be healed            and not for his own offering.
of salvation by works. He wanted          perfectly; and they will walk in a          Next time, the Lord willing, we
nothing to do with salvation by           far more wonderful way in the               will have to look more closely at
grace. Abel came with an offer-           new Jerusalem than Adam and                 this; but here too we have a
ing that revealed his faith in            Eve did in the garden of Eden.              shadow of things to come. God is
Gods work of saving His people              Now we must not accept and                speaking here to us as well as to
by the shedding of,blood in His           teach our children the human                Cain and to Abel. Cl
grace. Abel came with an offer-           idea that God caused the smoke
ing to thank God for the gift of          of Abel's offering to go straight
salvation, of salvation as a one
hundred percent gift. Cain came
to seek a blessing by his works.
And when God asked him                    Take the time to read and study
whether he would not be ac-
cepted, if he did well, it became         the Stand&t-d  Bearer. It is an
plain that his offering was an in-
suIt.to-.G_o_c! and called for punish-    excellent source of devotional
ment. Cain was going to give God
something, instead of fleeing to
God to receiue a blessing. Cain           reading material for your
was going to buy blessings. He
came with fruit of the ground             daily use.
that he raised, not having before
his consciousness the fact that
God gave him that, fruit. No, he---

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 Walking in
 the Light
Prof. Herman Hanko                        Homosexuality (4)

   One passage in Scripture more          of God into a lie, and worshipped           Clearly, the passage is teaching
than any other speaks of the ter-         and served the creature more than        the church at Rome concerning
rible sin of homosexuality. To            the Creator, who is blessed for ever.    the great moral depravity into
this passage we wish to call at-          Amen.                                    which the Roman Empire had
tention. It is found in Romans              For this cause God gave them up        fallen in the days in which the
1: 18-32. Because of its impor-           unto vile affections: for even their     apostle lived. He is speaking of
tance we quote the entire                 women did change the natural use         the great sins which were com-
passage here. 1 fear that if I do         into that which is against nature:       mitted outside the sphere of the
not quote it here, the reader will        and likewise also the men, leaving
                                          the natural use of the woman,            gospel among the heathen who
not take the time to look it up in        burned in their lust one toward          had never had any contact with
his Bible and read it carefully.          another; men with men working that       the gospel nor heard its message.
   For the wrath of God is revealed       which is unseemly, and receiving in      He is doing this in order that he
from heaven against all ungodliness       themselves that recompence of their      may demonstrate the great
and unrighteousness of men, who           error which was meet. And even as        wonder of the gospel which is
hold the truth in unrighteousness;        they did not like to retain God in       the "power of God unto salvation
because that which may be known           their knowledge, God gave them           to every one that believeth; to
of God is manifest in them; for God       over to a reprobate mind, to do
hath showed it unto them. For the                                                  the Jew first, and also to the
                                          those things which are not conve-
invisible things of him from the crea-    nient; being filled with all un-         Greek' (vs. 16). That gospel is the
tion of the world are clearly seen,       righteousness, fornication, wicked-      great power that it is, even to
being understood by the things that       ness, covetousness, maliciousness;       save from such degradation as
are made, even his eternal power          full of envy, murder, debate, deceit,    characterized ancient Rome,
and Godhead; so that they are             malignity; whisperers, backbiters,       because "therein is the righteous-
without excuse: because that, when        haters of God, despiteful, proud,        ness of God revealed from faith
they knew God, they glorified him         boasters, inventors of evil things,      to faith: as it is written, The just
not as God, neither were thankful;        disobedience to parents, without         shall live by faith' (vs. 17).
but became vain in their imagina-         understanding, covenant breakers,          The theme of this section
tions, and their foolish heart was        without natural affection, implaca-      beginning in vs. 18 is expressed
darkened. Professing themselves to        ble, unmerciful: who knowing the
be wise, they became fools, and                                                    in the very first statement: "The
                                          judgment of God, that they which
changed the glory of the uncorrupt-       commit such things are worthy of         wrath of God is revealed from
ible God into an image made like to       death, not only do the same, but         heaven against all ungodliness
corruptible man, and to birds, and        have pleasure in them that do them.      and unrighteousness of men."
four-footed beasts, and creeping            This remarkable passage of             That is the dominating thought
things. Wherefore God also gave           Scripture has been often mis-            which controls the whole
them up to uncleanness through the        interpreted, and has, in fact, been      passage.
lusts of their own hearts, to             interpreted in such a way that it          These ungodly and unrighteous
dishonour their own bodies between        speaks of Gods gracious restraint        men hold the truth in un-
themselves: who changed the truth         of sin. How one can find such a          righteousness. They have a
                                          teaching in the passage is hard to       knowledge of that truth because
Prof. Hanko is professor of Church        imagine, but no less a theologian        it is clearly showed to them in all
History and New Testament in the          than Dr. A. Kuyper explained it          the things that are made. The
Protestant Reformed Seminary.             in that way.                             heathen know that God is God

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and that He alone must be             Idolatry is punished with homo-        husbands. It is not enough that
served. But they suppress the         sexuality. Homosexuality is a          divorce and remarriage flourish
truth in unrighteousness. And         manifestation of the wrath of God      in direct contradiction to the law
that suppression of the truth         against all ungodliness and un-        of God. All this, though terrible,
manifests itself in all their         righteousness (vs. 18). It is im-      is still in harmony with nature -
idolatry, for "they changed the       possible to justify homosexuality      a man and a woman. But lust
glory of the uncorruptible God in-    when we receive Scripture's            consumes in ever increasing
to an image like to corruptible       description of it as punishment        measure so that "against nature"
man, and to birds, and four-          for sin.                               men with men work that which
footed beasts, and creeping             This does not mean, however,         is unseemly, and women change
things" (vs. 23). They "changed       that men and women were                the natural use into that which is
the truth of God into a lie, and      dragged into homosexuality by          against nature.
worshipped and served the             God against their will. Of course        That is Scripture's description
creature rather than the Creator,     not. God never works that way.         of the sin. It is the bottom of im-
who is blessed forever" (vs. 25).     God gave them up through the           morality, the dregs of lust, the
  Because of this terrible sin,       lusts of their own hearts. They        ultimate depravity in sexual rela-
God gave them over to the sins        were wicked and depraved. They         tions, a groveling in the deepest
of homosexuality so that they dis-    lusted in their hearts. They in-       filth of sin, a squirming in the
honour their own bodies between       dulged in every form of vice and       sewage of total debauchery.
themselves (vs. 24) and even          fornication. And through the in-                 *  *  *  *  *
their women did change the            strumentality of their own evil
natural use into that which is        hearts and the lusts residing            We must now return to the
against nature. But the men did       there, God gave them up to this        question with which we began
                                                                             these articles: Is AIDS Gods judg-
the same. They left the natural       great sin. They are responsible.       ment against the sin of homo-
use of the woman, burned in           They changed the natural use in-
their lust one toward another,        to that which is against nature.       sexuality?
and men with men worked that          They burned in their lust one            Those who argue that it is not
which is unseemly (vss. 26, 27).      toward another. They did not           argue from different viewpoints.
                                                                             The outright liberal will not con-
  The sin of homosexuality is         want to retain God in all their
here described as being a par-        thoughts. And in their burning         cede that homosexuality is a sin
                                                                             at all; and because it is not sin it
ticular judgment of God upon          lust, they sought sexual gratifica-
these wicked. That is a perspec-      tion, men with men and women           is not punished. The more
tive that is not often mentioned.     with women.                            religious person will perhaps
God gave them ouer to this sin.         It is striking that this is all      argue that homosexuals are not
                                                                             punished for their sins because
God brought them into this sin;       against nature (vss. 26, 27). That     God is a God of infinite love who
and He did so because of their        makes the sin so terrible. The         loves all men and has compas-
idolatry. He hated their idolatry     reference is, of course, to the        sion on them. Punishment is
and punished them for it by giv-      creation ordinance. God original-      anger, and that is foreign to
ing them over to homosexuality.       ly created man and woman. He           Gods nature. Others argue that
That ought to give any defender       created them for each other. He        AIDS cannot be a punishment for
of any form of homosexuality          married them and instituted the        sin because innocent people also
pause. Scripture here depicts it      great and blessed covenant rela-       contact AIDS either through in-
not only as a repulsive and vile      tion of marriage. He made man          nocent contact with a carrier or
abomination, but specifically         for woman within that relation-        through polluted blood. How can
speaks of it as a punishment of       ship so that they could be fruitful    innocent people contact this
God.                                  and multiply and replenish the         dreaded disease if it is punish-
  After all, God punishes sin with    earth. But sinful man degrades
sin. He visits the iniquity of the    that great creation ordinance. He      ment?
                                                                               We must be sure that in all this
fathers upon the children even        commits fornication and adultery       we take the Biblical teachings
unto the third and fourth genera-     not only, but he even goes             concerning Gods judgment to
tion of them that hate Him. Sin       against nature. It is not enough       heart. There can then be no
leads to sin. One sin leads to        that man has sexual relations          question about it at all that all
many sins. "Lesser" sins lead to      with women other than his wife.        sickness and disease, all suffering
"greater" sins. But all because       It is not enough that women vent       and death, all trouble and woe
God punishes the sinner with          their sexual lusts by intercourse      are Gods just punishment against
worse sins and more terrible sins.    with men who are not their

                                                                                                The Standard Bearer  I233


sin which came into the world           the wicked starving while the          ' uses prosperity and riches for the
through the fall of Adam and Eve        people of God are provided with         ultimate destruction of the
and came upon all men because           plenty to eat. Sickness and             wicked.
of their accountability which they      disease are not the inheritance           Hence, there is hope and prom-
share with Adam. No one who             only of those who have rejected         ise. Homosexuality is not the
has any acquaintance with Scrip-        Christ; you will find also Gods         one unforgivable sin. It is a sin
ture will deny this.                    people in the hospital.                 present in the evil nature of all of
   Nor can anyone deny that the            Some general comments .must          us. It is there, whether we will
judgments which come upon this          be made about this.                     acknowledge it or not. And the
world in the form,of "natural"             For one thing, God always            child of God, knowing something
disasters are God's judgments           judges organically. That is, na-        of the vast potential for evil resi-
upon a wicked world which               tions, peoples, races, tribes,          dent in his own sinful flesh,
speak of Christ's return in judg-       families, etc. are judged together.     acknowledges that he too is a
ment when the world and all in it       All Israel suffered defeat at Ai        homosexual by nature. The sin is
shall be destroyed. Even Zion is        when Achan hid treasures he had         not beyond the capacity of his
redeemed through judgment.              stolen from Jericho, The whole          own sinful flesh. The evil is not
   It is equally true that specific     nation went into captivity when         foreign to his depravity. It is
sins have specific consequences         Judah forsook God, even though          there in all its stark horror.
which are the hand of Gods              among them could be found                 But there is forgiveness for our
judgment. Drunkenness results in        Daniel and his three friends.           evil natures in the blood of the
diseases of the liver and destruc-      There is a federal responsibility       Son of God shed on the cross.
tion of the brain. Fornication          by which God even visits the in-        And there is forgiveness there in
results in venereal diseases of in-     iquity of the fathers upon the          that cross for the sin of homo-
creasingly virulent form which          children.                               sexuality as well. All sins for all
destroy the body and mind of the           For another thing, we must           God's people are forgiven by that
sinner. Why then is it so difficult     never confuse blessings and             great gift of Gods free and
to believe that AIDS is a par-          curses with mere things. This is        sovereign grace in the death of
ticular judgment upon a par-            the Achilles' heel of common            His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
ticular sin? That it arose in the       grace. Common grace finds God's           When the child of God
homosexual community and that           favor and love in rain and sun-         humbles himself and flees for
it is still found primarily there       shine. But even the most ardent         refuge to the cross, fully aware of
surely indicates the truth of this.     proponent of this doctrine              his own utter sinfulness, he finds
   But that leaves the question:        flinches at the thought that            not only forgiveness and pardon,
How is it that the "innocent" also      famine and drought are curses in        pure and complete, but he finds
suffer these diseases? The answer       themselves. The whole                   also grace and power to over-
is not hard to find. This is a ques-    philosophy leads to impossible          come all the sins of his nature.
tion which does not relate to           conclusions.                            Trusting in that cross, he has the
homosexuality only; it is a ques-         The fact is that, while Gods          mighty, conquering strength of
tion which one must face when           people must surely share in the         Christ within him to overcome
one sees the horrors visited upon       judgments which come upon the           every lust of the flesh, every
children through sexual abuse by        ungodly, nevertheless, all things       tendency of his .evil nature, and
parents; when one witnesses the         work together for their good, for       every evil within - not his
ravaged lives of children brought       they are called according to           power, his strength, but the
up in the homes of drunks; when         Gods purpose. Disease, suffering,       power of the blood of atonement.
one sees the effects of syphilis on     pain, illness, drought, famine,           "We have not an high priest
newly-born children. Let those          pestilence, tornados - all the         which cannot be touched with
who raise the question of "inno-        judgments of God serve the pur-         the feeling of our infirmities; but
cent" victims explain all these         pose of the salvation of His           was in all points tempted like as
things.                                 people. Sometimes these judg-          we are, yet without sin. Let us
  But in a broader context, the         ments are Gods chastening hand         therefore come boldly unto the
simple fact is that Gods judg-          beneath which we are called to         throne of grace, that we may ob-
ments come upon all. Tornados           humble ourselves. In love to His       tain mercy, and find grace to
do not bypass the homes of the          people, God chastens in order to       help in time of need' (Hebrews
righteous. Floods do not swirl a        correct. And in wonderful grace        4:15, 16). 0
distance away from the homes of         God uses all these evils for the
the elect. Famine does not leave        good of His saints - even as He

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 Decency
 and Order                                 Ministerial 
 Rev. Ronald Cammenga                                                            Resignation

   "Inasmuch, as a minister of the         bound to the service of the                Not only by example but by
Word, once lawfully called as              church for life. There is a close       express teaching the Scriptures
described above, is bound to the           connection here to Article 11, the      indicate that the call to the
service of the church for life, he         preceding article. The underlying       ministry is for life. This certainly
is not allowed to enter upon a             principle of Article 11, the princi-    is the clear implication of Jesus'
secular vocation except for such           ple on which the duty of the con-       call to Peter in John 21:15-19 to
weighty reasons as shall receive           gregation for the support of its        feed Jesus' sheep. In I Corinthians
the approval of the classis."              minister rests, is that the work of     9: 16, 17 the apostle says that
             -Church Order, Article 12.    the ministry is full-time. In the       necessity is laid upon him to
  This article speaks of the               present article the further princi-     preach the gospel, and woe to
possibility of a minister of the           ple is set forth that, besides being    him if there ever comes a time
gospel leaving the office of the           a full-time labor, the work of the      when he does not preach the
ministry. It is to be distinguished        ministry is a life-long calling.        gospel. The apostle's injunctions
from articles dealing with similar           Article 12 states that once           to Timothy in II Timothy 4:1-5
matters. Article 10 deals with a           lawfully called a minister is           certainly presuppose that
minister leaving one congrega-             bound for life "to the service of       Timothy's calling to the ministry
tion for another. Article 11 deals         the church." To the service of          is for life. Romans 11:29 teaches
with dismission from service in a          the church means to the service         that ". . . the gifts and calling of
particular congregation. Article           of the church as a whole. By his        God are without repentance."
12, now, deals with a minister             installation in a particular congre-       That the call to the ministry is
who leaves the service of the              gation, a minister is bound to the      a life-long calling has always
church in order to pursue some             service of that congregation for        been the position of the Re-
earthly vocation. The subject is           as long as he remains the               formed churches. The following
ministerial resignation. Article 13        minister of that congregation. But      synodical declarations bear that
will deal with yet another situa-          besides this special bond to a par-     out.
tion - emeritation, honorable              ticular congregation, he is also          Since ministers are bound to their
retirement from service in the             bound to the service of the whole       ministry for life, they are not allowed
ministry.                                  church for life.                        to  gwe themselves to a secular voca-
  The fundamental principle that           THE MINISTRY, A LIFE                    tion or to forsake their ministry
underlies Article 12 is that a             CALLING                                 unless they have no congregation to
                                                                                   serve. (Synod of Dordtrecht, 1578).
minister once lawfully called is             The call to the ministry of the
                                           gospel is a call for life. The            A minister of the Word having
                                           priests and Levites of the Old          been lawfully called is bound to the
                                                                                   Church of Christ for life, so that he,
                                           Testament were bound to the ser-        as long as the congregation which he
                                           vice of the temple all their life.      serves exists, may not leave his office
                                           Many examples can be cited              nor enter upon any other life-calling
                                           from Scripture of men who func-         without the judgment of the par-
                                           tioned in their offices for life:       ticular synod. (Synod of Middelburg,
                                           David, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah,        1581).
Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the
Protestant Reformed Church of              Daniel, the Apostles, Paul,
Loveland, Colorado.                        Timothy, Titus, and others.

                                                                                                     The Standard Bearer  I235


   Since a minister of the Word once           We know of no biblical warrant          work not belonging to the official
 lawfully called . . . is bound to the      for requiring that the ministry of the     ministry of the gospel.
 service of the church for life, he is      Word be `for life,' whereas the offices       Two significant items of trans-
 not allowed to enter a secular oc-         of elder and deacon are not. A             lation are worth noting. First, the
 cupation except for great and             second reason is that there are             English "secular vocation" is a
 weighty reasons of which the  classis      numerous  Christian occupations that       rather free translation of the
 shall take note and judge. (Synod of       can be well served by a person with
 `s Gravenhage, 1586).                      theological training and ministerial       Dutch "een andere staat des
    The Synod of Leiden, 1592,              experience, but that are not ec-           levens," that is, "another state of
 reprimanded a minister who had             clesiastical in nature and are not         life." Second, although both the
 joined the army on the grounds             directly related to the purpose and        Dutch and the English state that
 that the call to the ministry is for       primary task of the ministry of the        the minister "may not" or "is not
 life. The Synod of Groningen,              Word. Let us be clear about this mat-      allowed' or "is not permitted" to
 1644, declared that a minister             ter! Just because a (former) minister      enter a secular vocation, the
 who had resigned the ministry              of the Word is able to do a job does       original Latin states that it "is not
                                            not automatically make that job
 for political office was unworthy                                                     possible" for one who has been
                                            either ecclesiastical or directly
 of the office of the ministry of                                                      lawfully called to the ministry to
                                            related to the purpose and primary
 the gospel. Rev. G.M. Ophoff               task of the ministerial office.            leave the ministry for a secular
 writes:                                      As a matter of fact, in frequent in-     vocation. A lawfully called
   The conclusion is warranted that         stances we think it would be ap-           minister CANNOT enter a secular
the conviction of our fathers was: A        propriate and even helpful if a            vocation, because he is called to
minister actually called of God is         minister of the Word could honor-           the ministry for life. That is
called for life and binds himself to        ably and without prejudice set aside       stronger than "may not" or "is
the service (of the church) for the         his ordination for a specific time         not permitted." It is really an im-
rest of his days. Such a one may and        (such as two years minimum, five           possibility.
will not abandon his office in the in-      years maximum) while he engage(s)            What is a secular vocation? W.
terest of some secular work. He do-         in an occupation that (does) not           Heyns, in his  Handbook For
ing so, is one who, though lawfully         satisfy the requirements of Articles       Elders And  Deacons, states the
called by the church, was not actual-       11-13 as proposed. Essentially such        following:
ly called by God. He is therefore un-       action is no different than in the case
worthy of the office. (Standard             of elders and deacons who conclude           In general it can be said that a
Bearer, Vol. 9, p. 488.)                   ~ a term of service on the consistory,      Minister has entered upon a secular
   The Christian Reformed                   only to be re-elected and installed at     vocation, incompatible with the
Church has made a radical revi-             a later date. When the other assign-       Ministry: a) when he busies himself
                                                                                       with secular activities to such an ex-
sion of Article 12. It has revised          ment is completed, the (former)            tent that he can do no justice to his
the article in such a way as to             minister could then follow the appro-      ministerial duties, thus making his
remove the teaching of the arti-            priate steps for returning-to a            holy and glorious office a matter of
cle that a minister "is bound to            ministerial vocation.  (Acts  of Synod
                                            1978, pp. 479-480).                        secondary consideration. The
the service of the church for                 This is a radical departure              Ministry of the Word, our Fathers
life." Article 14b of the Church            from the historic Reformed posi-           said, claims the whole man and all
Order (revised) of the Christian            tion that the call to the ministry         of his time and strength. b) when the
Reformed Church reads:                                                                 activities to which he devotes himself
                                            is a call for life! So serious is this
   A minister of the Word, once law-                                                   in that manner are of such a nature
                                            departure that, in my estimation,
fully called, may not forsake his of-                                                  that they `are not in the interest of
                                            it represents the abandoning of an
fice. He may, however, be released                                                     the Churches in general, or not of a
from office to enter upon a non-            important Biblical truth concern-          spiritual character, and not related
ministerial vocation for such weighty       ing the office of the ministry of          to the calling to preach the gospel.'
reasons as shall receive the approval       the gospel. Damage has been                (Holland Synod of Leeuwarden,
of the  classis with the concurring ad-     done to the office! The office has         1920, Art. 105.) (Handbook, p. 101).
vice of the synodical deputies.             been slighted!                             THE EXCEPTION OF
   The report of the synodical             THE PROHIBITION OF                          ARTICLE 12
study committee of the Christian            ARTICLE 12                                   Article 12 provides for an ex-
Reformed Church that proposed                 The article prohibits a minister         ception: `I. . . except for such
the revision of Article 12 reads in         of the Word from entering a                weighty reasons as shall receive
-part:                                      secular vocation. By "secular              the approval of the classis."
                                            vocation" is not meant a worldly
                                            or carnal occupation. What is
                                            meant is any non-religious work,

236  / The Standard Bearer


   Such weighty reasons would              viction  has crept over his soul that            Even this exception, however,
NOT include: the desire to escape          he, though lawfully called by the          must be approved by the classis:
the rigors of the work of the              church, was not  actually called of        ". . . except for such weighty
ministry; the desire to escape             God. (Standard Bearer, Vol.' 9, p.         reasons as shall receive the ap-
problems, whether in the con-              489).                                      proval of classis. "
sistory or congregation; the               Again he writes:                                 Resignation from office
desire for a higher income than               Thus the only reason a minister         tendered by a minister to his con-
the ministry affords; the desire to        could be allowed to abandon his of-        sistory, must receive not only the
escape suspension and deposition           fice, is his conviction that he was not    approval of the consistory, but
                                           actually called by God to this
from office.                               ministry. A conviction of this kind        also of the classis. Originally this
   There are especially two                will be present in the soul nearly         article included the words
weighty reasons for resignation                                                       "
                                           always in conjunction with other                . . . and the synodical
of office.                                 emotions and perceptions from              delegates." It would have been
   The first weighty reason for            which it may be said to spring. The        well if this had been retained.
resigning the ministry for a               minister perceives that he is totally      Any future revision of the Church
secular vocation would be the              unfit for the service. He may lack the     Order should re-insert this
failure to receive a call after            boldness to preach the Word so that        reference to the approval of the
dismissal according to Article 11.         he finds himself facing his flock from     synodical delegates ad examina.
If after a `definite period of time        Sabbath to Sabbath in great agony                Anyone who persists in resign-
after dismissal a man does not             of mind. Though he possesses suffi-        ing from office in spite of the dis-
                                           cient knowledge and natural ability,
receive a call, he really has no           he may deem himself incapable of           approval of his consistory and
choice but to resign from the              edifying his flock. His love for the       classis, or who refuses to gain
ministry according to Article 12.          service may have grown cold. His           this approval before resigning, is
   The second weighty reason for           heart may not be in his work. So the       worthy of suspension and deposi-
resigning the ministry is the con-         conviction creeps over his soul that       tion from office. The grounds of
viction on the part of the                 he is not in the place where he            such suspension and deposition
minister that, although he has             (should be) and should leave the           would be "faithless desertion of
been called to office by the               ministry. In the event the conviction      office," Church Order, Articles 79
church, he has not been called             cannot be shaken, so that by it the        and 80. This would preclude the
by God. Rev. Ophoff writes:                minister is completely undone, such        possibility of resignation accord-
                                           weighty reasons as can receive the
  The minister actually called by          approval of the Classis  are present.      ing to Article 12.
God is bound to the service of the         A minister so harassed will eventual-            It should be added that a con-
church for life. The sole reason why       ly conclude, and rightfully so, that       sistory whose minister has been
he should be allowed to abandon the        he was not called of God. He should        granted resignation from office
service (of the ministry) is his           be allowed to enter upon a secular         according to Article 12 should
declaration to the effect that the con-    vocation. (Standard Bearer, Vol. 9, p.     notify the various churches of the
                                           489).                                      ,denomination of this fact. 0





                                           Retirement of an
Contribution
Prof. Herman Hanko                         Organist

  It was a long time ago, in my            getting someone to lead the sing-          casually remarked that a song
college days as a matter of fact.          ing. With the brashness of youth           leader's task could not be all that
Those responsible for finding              and the ignorance that comes               difficult, that, in fact, anyone
some leaders for Singspirations            from only a passing acquaintance           should be able to do it. Before I
were bemoaning the difficulty of           with the intricacies of music, I           realized what had happened, I

                                                                                                          The Standard Bearer I237


 was responsible for leading the         Gods people as they lifted their .
 next Singspiration. That which          voices in the glorious riches of
 salvaged the Singspiration from         the singing of the Psalms. This
 disaster was the steady and calm        was her gift, and for this we ex-
 hands of Sybil Engelsma on the          press our appreciation for over
 organ in the old Hope Church            fifty years of faithful service.
 building. That was my first ac-         She's retiring, now, from her
 quaintance with her organ play-         work as organist. Worship in
 ing, and I fervently expressed to       Hope Church will never be quite
 her my thanks after the trying          the same. The familiar figure of
 evening was over.                       Sybil at the organ is part of our
   Since then I have heard her           heritage. We are thankful to her
 playing often and with great ap-        and to her completely unassum-
preciation. The 6% years I was           ing way of helping us in our wor-
pastor in Hope and the 20 years I        ship of God. May she have the
 have been a member were years           assurance in her heart that the
 in which Sybil's presence at the        Lord looked with favor on the
 organ was something to look for-        singing in Hope Church because              Sybil Engelsma-
ward to.                                 of her faithful labors. Cl
   Organists, without a great deal
 of appreciation and without
much recognition, have become
an important part of our worship         .B-ook  Review
services. Before the service
begins the re_sponsibility_  for put-
      - L - - -
ting the congregation-in the             GOD'S EVERLASTING COVE-                     wends his weary way in the
proper frame of mind and heart           NANT OF GRACE, by Herman                    pilgrimage of this life" (p. 229).
to worship the Lord falls upon           Hanko (Reformed Free Publishing             The approach is historical; begin-
them. In congregational singing          Association, 236 pp.; $9.95,                ning with the covenant life of
the success or failure of singing        paper). Reviewed by the Editor.             God Himself, the book treats the
as worship falls in large measure          This is a book to be read for             covenant in its historical revela-
upon their skilled hands. It is          pleasure and profit. This cove-             tion - the covenant with Adam;
ironic, I think, that the most suc-      nant theologian, professor of               the covenant with Noah; etc. Not
cessful organists are those who          theology at the Protestant Re-              only should those espousing
are scarcely noticed. When one is        formed Theological Seminary,                dispensationalism give this
not conscious of the organ, but          gives us a thorough exposition of           presentation of covenant
has been guided by the swelling          the truth of the covenant. This is          theology a hearing, but also
sounds of this mighty instrument         no small gift, for, as the author           those holding to covenant
into singing from the heart, one         declares:                                   theology in the Reformed and
sings to the accompaniment of a            It is by no means an exaggeration         Presbyterian denominations
good organist. Sybil was such an         to say that God's covenant is the key       ought to acquaint themselves
organist.                                to the interpretation of the whole of       with the doctrine (and life) of the
   Her choice of music before the        God's Word. It is a truth written           covenant as this doctrine (and
service was not the mighty               large on every page of Holy Writ. It        life) have been developed in the
chorales of Bach, nor the in-            is a truth in the light of which the        Protestant Reformed Churches.
tricate music of profoundly gifted       whole of the Scriptures must be in-         To refer only to ,one aspect of the
musicians; it was the simple and         terpreted. It is the central teaching of    truth of the covenant, the cove-
familiar music which the saints          all that God has said in His infallible     nant with Noah will be seen in
knew and loved which, without            Word. (p. 229)
                                           Throughout, there is practical            an entirely different light than is
notice, entered the heart and            application to the life and ex-             the case generally in Reformed
prepared one for the worship of          perience of the member of the               and Presbyterian circles - and a
God. In accompanying our sing-           covenant, convinced as Hanko is             glorious light at that! Hanko and
ing, she never called attention to       that "it (the covenant) is the              the Reformed Free Publishing
herself or to her skill on the in-       greatest possible comfort and               Association are to be thanked for
strument; but was deeply aware           hope for the child of God as he             this valuable contribution to Re-
of the calling simply to guide                                                       formed literature. 0

238  I The  Standard Bearer


                                       , News From
Mr. Benjamin Wigger                      Our Churches

                    February 15, 1989      Each "class" followed the same      CHURCH ACTIVI%IES
CALLS                                    general format. Prof. Decker             The Council of our Hudsonville
   Even though news about trios,         would introduce a specific aspect     P.R.C. in Hudsonville, Michigan
calls, acceptances and/or                of the office of elder ranging        received a report from its
declines is generally "old' before       from qualifications for the office    building committee that installa-
it gets into print, we will pass it      to information dealing with over-     tion of air conditioning in just the
on anyway.                               sight over the minister and the       auditorium of their church would
   Rev. Houck, one of our                preaching, to family visitation.      require an expense of between
churches' home missionaries, has         Then after the lecture the floor      $62,000 and $67,000. In light of
declined the call he received            was opened to questions from the      this high cost, the council de-
from the Peace P.R.C. in Lyn-            audience. Prof. Decker taught         cided not to pursue the matter
wood, Illinois. And the South            each class with a combination of      further. I just can't help but
Holland congregation has formed          practical insight and humor that      wonder why these decisions
a trio of the Revs. Kamps,               made the time go by all too           about air conditioning are always
Slopsema, and Terpstra.                  quickly. You also might be            easier to, make in January than in
CONGREGATIONAL                           pleased to know that all four of      August.
HIGHLIGHTS                               these classes have been recorded        Hudsonville's Young Adults
  On every Monday evening of             on video cassette, and I am           sponsored a ski trip to Traverse
January, except the lst, a group         assuming that these will be           City, Michigan on January 20 and
of between 120 and 140 men               available sometime soon to any        21.
from the West Michigan area met          who couldn't get there for those        At a congregational meeting
in the auditorium of our South-          meetings. I think these tapes         held back in December, the
west P.R.C. in Grandville,               would be a welcome addition to        saints in our Hull P.R.C. in Hull,
Michigan to hear Prof. Decker            any of our church's libraries.        Iowa passed a proposal to labor
speak on the office of elder.              On Wednesday evenings,              towards the building of a new
                                         beginning February 1, the Grand-      church.
                                         ville P.R. Church Extension Com-        I couldn't help but notice that
                                         mittee began sponsoring a Crea-       a lot of our churches in the state
                                         tion Seminar. A cordial welcome       of Michigan had made plans to
                                         was extended to all in the com-       hold church sliding parties. Byron
                                         munity to attend. The meetings        Center, Kalamazoo, Hudsonville,
                                         were held in the Fellowship Hall      and the Young People's Fed.
                                         of the Cook Funeral Home in           Board all set dates in January.
                                         Grandville.                           .Membe_rs  .were encouraged to
                                                                                                      -- 7-           ,.
                                           Mr. Robert Brewer presented a       bring along toboggans, mner-
                                         travelogue entitled "Canada -         tubes, sleds, and snowmobiles.
                                         Sunrise to Sunset" on Saturday,       Unfortunately there wasn't much
                                         January 2 1, at the Grandville        snow last month, which reminds
                                         High School Auditorium. Pro-          us that man may make his plans,
                                         ceeds were for the .1989 Young        but without Gods will he can do
                                         People's Convention. This event       nothing. God is still in control.
Mr. Wigger is an elder in thk  P&t-      was sponsored by the Young              The Church Extension Commit-
estant Reformed Church of  Hudson-       People's societies of our Hope        tee of our Lynden P.R.C. in
ville, Michigan.                         P.R.C. in Grand Rapids, Michigan.     Lynden, Washington asked their

                                                                                              -The Standard Bearer I239


    THE                                                                 .-
sz-AlvD~                                                                                       SECOND  CUSS
  /?MR                                                                                         Postage Paid at
                                                                                               Grand  Rapids, Michigan

  l?O. Box 6064
  Grand Rapids, Ml 49506



 congregation this question: "As       ing where he found it. Nine post-      NOTICE!!!
 we leave God's house, do we           cards were returned. This year's          All students enrolled in the
 know what the Word has said to        distance champion came back            Protestant Reformed Seminary,
 us, or, would we perhaps like to      from Glandorf, Ohio, a distance        who will be in need of financial
 hear those same words again?"         of about 150 miles. The card was       assistance for the coming
 To answer that question the com-      found in a soybean field. The          school year, must contact the
 mittee has made available for         farmer did not just supply the re-     Student Aid Committee before
 each family a booklet that con-       quested information, instead he        its next meeting, scheduled for
 tains a list of all the sermons       enclosed the card in an envelope       March 27, 1989. Such contact
 given by their pastor, Rev. Haak,     with a letter w:hich described the     should be made with the S.A.C.
 while in Lynden.                      farm and also extended an invita-      secretary, Larry Meulenberg,
    The elders of Lynden also dis-     tion to visit.                         (616) 453-8466 at least 1 week
 tributed a questionnaire to the          The all-time: distance champion     prior to that date.
 congregation regarding the dif-       was launched iast year. The
 ferent options available concern-     balloon traveled about 300 miles       .ATTENTlON TEACHERS!!!
 ing financing of their new            and was found in a suburb of              Hope Christian School of
 church.                               Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.             Redlands, CA is seeking to add
 MISSION ACTIVITIES                    Hamilton is on the western point       a teacher to its staff beginning
    The mission in Norristown, PA      of Lake Ontario. Students and          the 1989-90 school year. Teach-
 was granted approval to organize      teachers alike were all quite sur-     ing-assignment would be either
 as a P.R. congregation at the last    prised that a little balloqn could     grades K and  I, or 2nd and
 meeting of Classis East. They         travel that far. 0                     4th. Those interested may call
 planned to waste no time, and                                                Ed Karsemeyer (Principal), at
 set the date of Friday, January 27                                           school (714-793-1504) or at
for their organization.                                                       home  (714-793-7166),  or Mike
    Rev. C. Hanko sent me a note       NOTICE!!!                              Critters (Secretary of School
 that was intended to inform our          Heritage Christian School is        Board), at (714-793-4439). Ap-
 readers that the location of the      seeking an additional teacher          plications or resumes should be
 P.R. church services in Braden-       for the intermediate grades for        sent to Hope Christian School,
 ton, Florida has moved. They are      the  1989-`90 school year. Those       1309 E. Brockton, Redlands, CA
 now being held in the Bradenton       interested may call Mr. Gerald         92374.
 Academy, 6210 17th Ave. West.         Kuiper at (616) 669-5427, or may
 This is just north of the Blake       write or  calI him at school.          ATTENTION TEACHERS!!!
 hospital.                                   Heritage Christian School          The South Holland Protestant
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES                           4900 40th Avenue                  Reformed Christian School is
    One final item I want to                 Hudsonville, MI 49426            seeking applications for a
 squeeze into this issue. Mr. Brian         (616) 669-l 773                   teaching position at the elemen-
 Dykstra, 5th grade teacher at our                                            tary grade level beginning the
Hope P.R. Christian School in          NOTICE!!!                              1989/90 school year. Direct all
Walker, Michigan, writes in the          Classis West of the Protestant       inquiries to:
January issue of the Hope High-        Reformed Churches will meet in           Lamm Lubbers, Administrator
lights that 23 fifth graders           South Holland, Illinois, on Wed-         16511 South Park Avenue
launched 23 helium-filled              nesday, March 2, 1989, at  8:30          South Holland, IL 60473
balloons recently. Attached to         a.m., the Lord willing. All              (312) 339-6585
the balloon is a postcard with the     delegates in need of lodging or
school's address on it. If someone     transportation from the airport         `James  Laziing, Board Secy.
finds that balloon all he has to do    should notify the Clerk of South         16230 Louis Avenue
is drop the card in the mail tell-     Holland's Consistory.                    South Holland, IL 60473
                                           -Rev. R. Hanko, Stated Clerk         (312) 596-5093

 240  / The Standard Bearer


